The Gift Of Insanity
by ThatCrazyDreamer
Summary: 9-year-old Luna Lovegood escapes to Wonderland after her mother's death and meets an unexpected friend, The Mad Hatter. She confides in him about her longing for normality, and he teaches her an important lesson of embracing who you are. One-shot for now
1. Chapter 1

"Alice?" Murmured the pale man with frizzed orange hair and two unfocused lime green eyes that aimed in different directions. "Could it be? Could it be? Alice is that you?"

"I'm quite sorry, sir." Came a light, absentminded voice as a shoeless girl walked out of the interesting flower patches that had captured her attention. This girl was so small; she couldn't be more than nine or ten. She had tangled dirty blonde hair that almost reached her thighs and sparkly blue eyes.

"But I'm not Alice. My name is Luna Lovegood." The small girl extended a little hand towards the stranger. "Who are you?"

He tipped his patched up, dirtied hat to her before shaking her hand with the wrong hand. "They call me the Mad Hatter." The man replied, showing his crooked, discolored teeth, and not making an effort to hide his disappointment.

"I really am very sorry, Mr. Mad Hatter." Luna told him. "Would you like me to help you find this Alice person?"

"No, it's okay. I suppose she just won't be coming back." The Mad Hatter sighed, looking rather troubled. He sat down on the multicolored grass of Wonderland. "She was my friend. She was very important to me."

Luna nodded knowingly as she sat down beside him. "I know what it's like to lose someone important."

The Mad Hatter laughed a laugh that explained exactly why he was called mad. "You can't be any more than nine."

As they talked, both of their eyes were on the beautiful, ever-changing sky.

"There's no age restriction to sadness." She stated as two chattering bugs the size of chipmunks climbed over her bare feet to pass. It didn't bother her in the slightest. I lost my mother a few hours ago. That's why I'm here. I needed to disappear for a while. You know, from the real world."

He looked at her suddenly and asked seriously, "Exactly what _is_ the real world, Luna Lovegood?"

The little girl shrugged. "It depends on how you view it, Mr. Hatter."

"What if…" The Mad Hatter tapped his fingers together restlessly. "What if you view it from a perspective that others consider insane?"

"My father taught me that the word crazy is the greatest compliment he's ever been given." Luna shared. "That's why my mother loved him, you know. He believes in things that no one else would ever dare to think of. He's proud of everything that he is."

"He sounds like a good man." The Mad Hatter said sincerely.

"He is." She agreed. "He's the best man I know. I've adopted most of his beliefs. None of the kids in my town believe in Nargles or anything fun, though." Luna got a faraway look in her eyes. "That's why they call me Loony Lovegood, you know. They don't play with me."

The Mad Hatter looked at her sympathetically. She was just a small child, blessed with too much knowledge and imagination for her own good.

"Those children," He muttered. "Have no idea what a nice girl they're missing out on."

"I just want to be normal." Little Luna whispered. "I want my mum and I want to be like everyone else."

He gasped, as though she had just viciously cursed. "Oh _no_, child. Oh no, don't you _ever_ say that! You are special because you _accept_ who you are. No one else your age – or at any age, in fact – is as bright and creative as you. _You are you_. Listen to what your father says. Insanity is a compliment. Those kids…" The Hatter broke into a grin that was the definition of crazy. "They couldn't be crazy if they _tried_. That's how the two of us are special; we don't even have to try at all! It comes naturally!"

Luna giggled and turned to face him, "You're very correct, Mr. Hatter. They couldn't be like us even if they wanted to be! You're very wise, you know."

He looked pleasantly surprised. "Most call it madness… but thank you."

There was a moment where their eyes connected and a new, strong bond was formed. It was an unbreakable friendship. It must've been felt all throughout Wonderland, for everything seemed to stop and admire the moment.

"Say, would you like to attend a tea party?"

"I would absolutely love to."


	2. Chapter 2

That year, at the curious, magical age of nine, Luna Lovegood visited Wonderland more times than you could imagine. She loved the thrilling, new world, however not quite as much as it loved her. Every time she arrived back—shoeless, as usually—the flowers would hum a joyful song, creatures would greet her, and even the sun would shine a little brighter.

No one, however, was as glad as The Mad Hatter himself. Luna was a best friend to him, and so much more. When Alice had abandoned him, he was left with no one who saw the world the way that he did. Once Luna had entered his life—seemingly by fate—all of that changed.

They would sit and walk and explore for hours—drinking tea, and singing, and talking about life, and laughing. They complimented each other perfectly, like two puzzle pieces that should have been connected all along, but just recently found each other.

This went on every day for two years. They celebrated holidays together and both of their birthdays were always an enormous deal, but as celebration carried on, some things just couldn't be ignored.

Luna, like all children, grew into the next stage of her life. The Hatter, on the other hand, was a Wonderland native, and therefore never aged.

On her eleventh birthday, Luna knew that Hogwarts was only a few days away. So as she and The Hatter celebrated her birthday with a large, lopsided cake, she was rather quiet. The Hatter—who knew her better than anyone else—could sense this.

"Luna, darling, what's wrong?" He asked with concern filling his hazy green eyes. He tapped his long, pale fingers of the table, unable to understand her uncharacteristic sadness. "This is the most exciting celebration of the year!"

"I don't know, Hatter," She lied in her distant, soft voice. There was no way she could tell him about Hogwarts. There was no way he could understand that she was leaving him. She hated herself. She was just like Alice, and she was ashamed. "Perhaps it's the Quazzy-Fazzles. You know how they get people around this time of the year."

"Indeed!" The Hatter agreed, swiping a glob of icing off the cake and sticking it in his mouth. "Thank goodness—they can be cured easily! For a minute, I thought something was really getting at you!"

"Yes," Luna murmured, looking down at the table guiltily. "Thank goodness."

The next day, the girl with tangled blonde hair and no shoes would get on a train for Hogwarts and stare out the foggy window, wishing to see The Hatter—_Her_ Hatter—just once more. The Mad Hatter, sitting alone at his table miserably, would wonder desperately what ever became of Luna Lovegood.

He would also wonder, as he looked around, how such a colorful world could become so dreadfully dull.


End file.
